Inside tracks: Morrissey, Gareth Gates and Boyzone

12:01AM GMT 24 Feb 2005

The latest music industry news and gossip

Heaven knows they're miserable

Morrissey, for years a resident of Clark Gable's former home in Los Angeles, has been sent a petition by his British fans to return to his native city of Manchester. Among the common-or-garden "I cook a mean veggie-burger" offers made on www.petitiononline.com/mancmoz/ are bon mots such as "Without you, it's just Anchester."

One of the Boyz?

The boy band of your nightmares is on its way, as fallen Pop Idol winner Gareth Gates considers joining a newly reformed Boyzone for a tour of the nation's entertainment sheds. He'll take the place of its former star member, now solo artist and TV host, Ronan Keating, who has refused point blank to take part. But then he can afford to.

Fifty grand comes for free

The inaugural New Music Award was announced earlier in the week by the Performing Right Society. It promises a £50,000 contribution to the recording of what its judges, who include Radio 3's Verity Sharp, Jerry Springer: The Opera author Stewart Lee, and Ani Das of Asian Dub Foundation, decide is Britain's most exciting and challenging new-music project in any genre.